Gold Coast Surf Industry Taskforce chairman John Neilsen said the sudden loss of the gutsy, goofy-footed surfer had sent "shock waves" through the city's surfing community.

"I've never seen such shock. People are crying in their factories today," Mr Neilsen said.

"He was the most influential board shaper of the past 30 years and was revered around the world."

Mr Byrne, known to friends as AB and Al, was born in New Zealand and competed at surfing world championships throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

He moved to Australia in the 1970s and founded Byrning Spears, where he carved out a reputation for quality channel-bottom boards designed using his knowledge of aerodynamics learned while in the New Zealand Air Force.

He hand-shaped boards for the likes of Kelly Slater, Darrick Doerner and Mark Occhilupo during his 40 years in the trade.

Mr Byrne continued to travel to favourite surfing spots like Whangamata on New Zealand's Coromandel Peninsula, Bali, Kaifu in Japan and the North Shore of Hawaii to work on updating his board designs.